Paris St Germain forward Lionel Messi and three other players have tested positive for COVID-19, the French Ligue 1 club said on Sunday. Argentina international Messi joined PSG from boyhood club FC Barcelona in August and the 34-year-old has scored six goals in 16 games in all competitions for the Parisian side. Defender Juan Bernat, back-up goalkeeper Sergio Rico and midfielder Nathan Bitumazala were the other players who returned positive tests. PSG said in a statement that the four players were currently in isolation and subject to the appropriate health protocols. France reported 219,126 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in a…
Author: Newsdesk
A total of 11 foreign players are now present in the Super Eagles camp at the Bolton White Hotel, Abuja ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon. Moses Simon from FC Nantes of France was the latest to hit the camp late on Saturday. This was after the arrival of Chidozie Awaziem (Alayanspor, Turkey), Francis Uzoho (AC Omonia, Cyprus), Henry Onyekuru (Olympiacos, Greece), and Peter Olayinka (Slavia Praha, Czech Republic). The other six players already in camp include Chidera Ejuke (CSKA Moscow, Russia), Daniel Akpeyi (Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa), Sadiq Umar (UD Almeria, Spain), Olisa Ndah (Orlando…
The Arewa Voter’s Forum have launched a mobile application “GYB 2023 Online” on google play store in support of Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi to run for President in the 2023 elections. Abdulahi Attajiri, President of the Forum disclosed this in an interview in Abuja on Sunday. Attajiri said that just like every other group, the Arewa Voter’s Forum developed the App, as part of their support to Bello because of capability to lead Nigeria. According to Attajiri, the online mobile App which was launched into the new year, 2022 was developed to reach a wider audience, within and outside…
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has assured of its commitment to further deepen ties with its host communities as it begins activities for 2022. NNPC gave the assurance through the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC), one of its upstream subsidiaries. In achieving this, NPDC, recently organised a novel community support programme called SpudBaby and a maiden presentation ceremony in Eastern Obolo local government area (LGA) of Akwa Ibom State. The ceremony took place on Dec. 17, 2021, at the Okoroete Town Hall of Eastern Obolo and was attended by top dignitaries in the LGA, including the Paramount…
Dr Salihu Lukman, Director-General, Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), has said that part of the problem of responding to national challenges in the country was the false mindset that government has all the resources required. He said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, adding that such mindset was the reason why in most cases, public conversations hardly acknowledged costs of government’s initiatives. He, however, noted that the world had been going through difficult period since 2019, especially with the outbreak of COVID-19 virus which imposed additional challenges that crippled economies, destroyed businesses and human lives. The PGF DG further…
Sen. Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly between 2015 and 2019 has declared interest to contest governorship in 2023. Speaking during a radio interview in Kaduna on Saturday, Shehu Sani said he was joining the race under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to rescue Kaduna state from the mess created by governor Nasir el-Rufai. “We sat with my loyalists and supporters and they wanted me to contest the governor of Kaduna State which I will do to remove APC, God willing; to remove anointed candidate of the state governor and to enter Government House…
This is a corollary to the second part of the Apollo 11 piece published on 2nd September 2021. Readers may recall my pledge to continue the discussion on this very interesting and most adventurous human exploration and expedition of nature hundreds of thousands of kilometers above the earth’s surface. Apollo 11 traveled a distance of 384,000 kilometers in 76 hours (about 5,000 km/hr.) carrying three American astronauts; Armstrong, Aldrin, and Michael Collins before it entered into a lunar orbit. One can imagine the thoughts of the families and friends of the braved astronauts who mortgaged their lives to be the…
The Emir of Ilorin and Chairman Kwara State Council of Chiefs, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari has commiserated with people of Ibadan over the demise of the Olubadan of Ibadan land, Oba Saliu Adetunji, who died on Sunday, January 2, 2022. Sulu-Gambari, in a condolence message issued by his spokesman, Abdulazeez Arowona condoled with the immediate family of the monarch over the great loss. “His Royal Highness, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari CFR, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman Kwara State Council of Chiefs, hereby commiserate with the Olubadan-In-Council, families, friends, government and good people of Oyo State over the death His Royal Majesty, Oba…
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State, Rev. John Hayab has confirmed that 120 abducted students of Bethel Baptist High School in Kaduna state have been freed so far. In a statement issued in Kaduna on Saturday, Hayab recalled that in the early hour of July 5, 2021, bandits invaded the school located at Maraban Damishi, Chikun local government area of Kaduna state and kidnapped 121 students. He said the number of the released students includes one student who was freed on December 28, 2021 and another one who was freed on January 1. “With the…
The Acting Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mr Isa Idris, says the backlog and the scarcity of international passports will end by March. He spoke at a virtual media interaction that part of the measures of clearings backlog and curbing scarcity was the introduction of enhanced e-passports. Idris also said that those experiencing difficulty in either renewing their international passports or securing new ones would be sorted as measures had been put in place to ensure its availability. He observed that the challenge of delayed passports production was due to the coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying global lockdowns, including…